NTPC is awaiting coal allocation for the second stage of 4,000 Mw super thermal power project at Kudgi in Bijapur district. The second stage will have a capacity of 1,600 Mw with two units of 800 Mw each, Venkateswaran said.

He said work on the first stage with a capacity of 2400 Mw (three units of 800 Mw each) at a cost of Rs 15,166 crore is progressing as per the schedule and will be commissioned by January 2016. Commercial operations are scheduled from May 2016 and subsequent units are to be commissioned with an interval of six months.

Till September 2014 the company has spent Rs 5,900 crore on the first stage project. NTPC has placed orders with Doosan, Toshiba, GE, Siemens, Yokogawa and Indian PSUs like BHEL. Private sector companies like L&T, IVRCL and Simplex are also associated with the project.

With the rise in cost of coal in the domestic market, Venkateswaran said the final cost of power for the state electricity supply companies is likely to go up marginally.

It would be in the range of Rs 5 per unit as against the price worked out earlier in the power purchase agreement, which stood at Rs 4.50 per unit. "We are yet to work out the final power purchase cost. It depends on the coal price at the time of supply of power to state government," he said.

Kudgi Super Thermal Power Plant is the first power plant being set up by NTPC in Karnataka.

Out of 4,000 Mw, the Karnataka government will get 50 per cent (2,000 Mw) power from Kudgi plant, while the balance will be allocated to other southern states such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.